First Term at Beacon Academy
by Evilyna
Summary: RWBY fanfic featuring eight OCs entering Beacon at the same time as the main cast. Action/Comedy. Pairings TBC. Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1: Hard Landing

Beacon Academy was the most beautiful building Ran and Letty Firth had ever seen. It was constructed out of pure, beautifully carved rock and shimmered like a diamond in the blazing sunlight, and its towers and structures seemed to go on forever into the watery blue sky. The grass surrounding it was a blinding shade of fluorescent green so bright it looked almost artificial, and the clothes the students wore formed a garish palette of unfamiliar colours. The twins, unused to the climate and the general brightness of the area, had to squint to make out shapes and textures in what otherwise looked like a child's painting, a blank canvas smeared with as many colours as a school paintbox would allow, and the movement of the never-ending crowds of students gave it a dizzyingly kaleidoscopic effect that could have caused motion sickness.

In the communities surrounding the Schnee Quarry the only true colours anyone ever saw were the sludgy brown of the miners' uniforms and an occasional glimpse of a shining piece of unrefined Dust: everything else was either soot-black or a drab shade of grey. To the twins, who were used to depressing towns constructed from bleak slabs of concrete and populated by listless men and women with no hope for the future, Beacon seemed as distant as a picture from one of the books donated to their school by the Society for the Education of the Residents of Impoverished Communities.

They still remembered that day, even though it had happened at least ten years ago, when a group of kind ladies had come into the classroom and given each child a book of their very own, as well as a shipload of paper, pencils and exercise books for the school. Ran's had been a tale of adventure, full of beautiful drawings of shadowy beasts and heroes on epic quests, while Letty's had been about a princess who lived in a palace that looked just like Beacon Academy: large and white and covered in towers and spires to explore. They'd cherished those books so much that, along with a piece of rock from the quarry to remind them of home, they'd taken them to Beacon in their heavy old trunks. Even now it still seemed like a fantasy they could only access in fiction.

Yet now they were standing before it in flesh and blood, about to begin their first year of training to become Huntsmen like their aunt was before she fell off a cliff and had to retire. After years of studying as hard as they could with the resources they had (a set of ancient textbooks, a children's guide to the creatures of Grimm they'd stolen from school, their amazingly knowledgeable aunt and the weapons she and her old teammate had handed down to them) they'd just managed to scrape past the entrance exams and win scholarships to the Academy, with the emphasis on the word "just": their interviews hadn't gone too well and their exam results weren't exactly first-class. Considering their economic circumstances and the fact that their textbooks and most of their aunt's knowledge had been at least thirty years out of date, however, just passing the exam was still a remarkable achievement.

Now the entrance exam results were the last things on their minds. All they could think about now was how they were going to find their way inside the Academy.

"Ran! Get out of my way!" Letty shouted across the din of conversation. "I can't see where I'm going 'cos your stupid fat head's in the way!"

"Move yourself," Ran murmured, not actually intending for Letty to hear him. "Your field of vision isn't that small, is it?"

Letty ignored him and shoved him out of the way, striding forward with the approximate grace of a bull and leaving Ran ambling along at his usual pace with his hands in his pockets. This usually happened every five minutes when they were out together.

He was stopped in his tracks by Letty's shrill, grating voice from in front of him, except this time it wasn't directed towards him. _Crap, _he thought. They hadn't even been inside the building and Letty was already about to cause a scene. That was their target of two tantrums every month screwed.

"You leave her alone!" Letty shouted as forcefully as she could. The boy was at least twice her height and built like a block of steel on legs, but when Letty got angry she could grow metres, and nothing made her angrier than seeing a girl having her chest manhandled without her permission.

"Why should I?" He cocked his rectangular head to the side and smirked, revealing a glinting gold tooth. "She asked for it, didn't she?" The girl struggled to break free of his vice-like grip on her breasts, shouting every obscenity she could think of.

"Because you don't go around grabbing girls without asking them first. Doesn't everyone know that?" she replied. She looked up and locked her eyes onto his, taunting him to attack. "If you don't get your hands off her, I might have to break your fingers." She licked her lips and enjoyed the moment of sadistic pleasure she always experienced when making threats.

"Quit wastin' your time," said the boy, scowling. "I don't fight little girls like you."

"In that case," Letty said, reaching for the handle of her sword and beginning to draw it from its compartment at the back of her jacket, "for the purpose of this fight I'll be a boy. Deal?"

The boy released his grip on the girl, who bolted for the nearest safe area, and cracked his knuckles. "Suits me," he said menacingly. "Bring it on."

Letty flicked her sword out of its travel position to reveal a heavy blade almost as big as she was and held it with one hand. The boy produced a spiked mace hanging precariously on a glowing blue plasma wire and prepared to attack, his eyebrows furrowed with concentration. Unfazed by his imposing-looking weapon, she shifted into a strong fighting stance, her weight on her back leg and her free hand guarding her face, and prepared for her first move. There wasn't much point in planning any complicated strategies, since she'd learned from years of brawling with the big kids on her street that most of the time your plans got screwed up before you'd even got started. Besides, this wasn't a tournament or an exam: neither she nor her opponent was out to show off. She was there to give him what she knew he deserved. Without hesitation, she charged towards him with all the speed she could muster.

Three metres away, Ran rolled his eyes. It was so typical of Letty to get into a fight with the first person she came across, even in a place like Beacon Academy, where first impressions could determine your entire future. He'd learned the hard way in the schoolyard that if you tried to stand up for yourself you'd only end up getting squashed flat, even if, like her, you had skin as thick as an armadillo's and muscles like steel rods. If he was her he'd have bitten his tongue and kept his hands to himself, like any halfway sane person would.

Letty leaped up and thrust her sword towards her opponent as hard as she could, putting all her weight into the blow. He grabbed it as if it was a tennis ball and shoved it out of his way, sending her crashing to the ground. Her ears rang and red spots danced in front of her eyes. She may have been strong, but this guy was at least two times stronger. Mentally, she kicked herself in the face. She should have been able to tell how strong he was from his build. If Auntie Let was here she'd have knocked her into the middle of next week for her stupidity.

_Get up, _she heard her aunt's voice say in her head. _Remember what I said. Don't give up just because you made a stupid move. Swallow your pride, learn from your mistakes and move on. Your opponent won't wait for you to finish stewing._

Her aunt's words of advice energized her and she dragged herself off the ground.

"Is that the best you can do?" the boy taunted. "You sure talk big for someone so weak."

His words bounced off her skull and she charged again, this time going for a right slash. This time it worked and he stumbled backwards from the force of the blow, though he tried to counter it with a clumsy but powerful swing of his spiked ball which she easily dodged. Speed may not have been her specialty, but her small frame made her a lot faster than him, which gave her at least a small advantage. She swung her sword as fast as she could to follow up her first blow and was pleased to get another hit, sending him sliding backwards on his feet. She breathed a sigh of satisfaction.

"You're not going to win that easily," he snarled, holding his weapon in front of his face. Letty was about to wonder what kind of trick he was about to pull on her when something flew straight past her, grazing her cheek. She jumped out of the way to find that the spikes on the heavy steel ball were completely gone and were now stuck in a nearby wall. Before she could take a closer look they shot back into the ball as if an invisible force had pulled them towards it. Blood dripped down her cheek and the rusty taste filled her mouth. She'd let a pitiful opponent like him draw first blood! How could she have been so stupid? She braced herself for another bombardment of spikes: he wasn't going to fool her this time. When the next one came she used her sword to deflect them and send them ricocheting in all directions. Not a single one hit the boy, but she was still pleased with herself for pulling off such a smart move. Auntie Let would have been proud.

Before her opponent had time to send another hail of spiky projectiles, Letty switched to a two-handed grip for power and tried her signature forward charge. Since he was concentrating on preparing his next barrage, he didn't notice when her forceful blow sent him flying backwards about ten feet and still didn't seem to know what had happened when he hit the ground. She kept her guard up just in case he still had some fight left in him but relaxed when he stayed supine.

"Now who's the weak one?" she said, watching him pant like a dog in a hot airship. She felt pleased to have finally trained him.

He coughed wordlessly, seemingly accepting her as her master. But she wasn't finished with him yet. She hadn't even delivered a proper final blow.

"Nice work. Now play dead!" She leaped out of her stance and was about to dramatically cleave his chest open when she felt a hand grab the back of her jacket.

"Haven't you tortured him enough?" said Ran, trying to keep his struggling sister from pulling free. They'd caused more than enough trouble for one morning.

"Ran! I can't leave a fight without finishing it properly! You don't just leave your opponent half-conscious! They could get back up and stab you in the back!"

"I don't think he's in any condition for stabbing. But don't give him ideas." He let go of her and she dusted herself off. "Come on. Everyone else is going in and we need to get to class."

"Fine," Letty sighed heavily. She and her brother walked away from the scene towards the school gates.

"Wait!" said a gruff male voice from behind them. It was the boy, standing up as if nothing had happened. Letty raised her eyebrows in admiration: he must've been pretty tough to stand upright after a pounding like that.

"Nice match," he said. There wasn't the same cockiness in his voice that there had been when they first met.

"Thanks," Letty murmured in reply.

"I-I let you win, though," he said hastily, his voice returned to its initial tone. "I can do a lot better than that. I didn't even use my Semblance." He paused for a moment, then smiled and gave her a bone-crushing handshake. "I'm Jaeger, by the way. Jaeger Bergman."

"Letitia Firth. Call me Letty," Letty replied, returning the handshake. "And," she gestured towards Ran, who was tapping his foot impatiently, "that's my brother Randolph."

"Ran," Ran cut in.

"Letitia and Randolph," said Jaeger. "Funny names."

"We didn't choose them!" Letty said indignantly. Names had always been a sensitive topic in their family. "I'll have you know I was named after my amazing aunt, and Ran after our father!"

"I meant funny in a good way," he laughed. "I'm not good with words. I meant…unique."

"Good!" Letty replied. She looked around and found that the grounds were completely empty. "Crap. We'd better go in, Ran!"

"You guys go. I'll catch up," said Jaeger. Without a word, the twins ran off as fast as they could, never looking back.


	2. Chapter 2: Disguises

Alexei Reznikov calmly walked through the ornate double doors, his metallic legs rubbing against his sturdy pants. Feeling the waves of dizziness that came with enhanced vision begin to take effect, he replaced his eyepatch. The chattering voices of the students surrounding him filled the air, full of the enthusiasm and life that came with new beginnings. But Alexei remained silent. Throughout his first half hour at Beacon he hadn't befriended, spoken to or even glanced at anyone, and he wasn't planning on doing so any time soon. Instead, he planned on fading into the background, n invisible gear in the whirring engine in the academy. He hadn't come here to socialize. He'd come here to hide.

But what was there to hide? Beacon Academy was the last place on Remnant where he'd find any unsavory characters, and Professor Ozpin had told him that he'd be perfectly safe. They'd never find him here…or would they? Why should he trust Professor Ozpin, a shady-looking man who he'd never met before? He'd learned the hard way that no-one, not even the most benevolent person in the world, could be trusted, and he knew that now he'd deserted the Capona Dust Company he'd never be truly safe. He'd wear the price they'd put on his head for the rest of his life, and if Capona's henchmen found him they'd kill him- or worse, Leo. Even if Beacon Academy was the safest place on Remnant, he'd still have to be on his guard just in case anything happened to his mute, defenseless brother Leo. He couldn't afford to lose the only family he had.

He looked up from the floor and found himself in a cavernous amphitheatre even more majestic than the building itself whose domed walls echoed every word and amplified it by a thousand. It reminded him of an old town hall he'd been to when he was about seven: he remembered being awestruck by the sheer volume of the place, how _huge _it seemed- though he was pretty small back then and had grown quite a lot in the past eight years. The number of students seemed to have multiplied by at least ten when he entered, and he struggled to hear his thoughts amongst the din of conversation. Unfamiliar suitcases, elbows and shoulders collided with his body, but luckily his heavy trenchcoat absorbed the resulting metallic sound. Before he'd set off from where Professor Ozpin had found him to Beacon Academy he'd decided that it'd be best to keep his cybernetic implants a secret if he wanted to remain anonymous.

"I'll…keep this brief." The calm, somber voice from the microphone made Alexei jump up in surprise, and he turned around to find Professor Ozpin standing on the tiny stage in front of him. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge- to hone your craft and acquire new skills-and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose- direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." After pausing to let the students digest the information (or, for all Alexei knew, marvel at the sound of his own voice), he pushed his tiny eyeglasses up his nose and stepped away from the microphone.

_Ah, yes, _thought Alexei. _The introductory speech aimed at the stupid morons who think they don't have to do any work outside school. _He'd have some fun picking those kids out and giving them hell in his combat classes. He'd had enough experience working for Capona: Beacon would be child's play compared to that.

A stern blond woman with piercing blue eyes who Alexei vaguely recognized as Glynda Goodwitch stepped in front of the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she said. "Tomorrow your initiation begins." She paused, staring at the glassy-eyed students with eyes that could have shattered glass. "Be ready. You are dismissed."

As if on cue, the students started to file out of the amphitheatre and into the various hallways branching out of it. Alexei followed blindly, his vision limited by his eyepatch. He wanted to keep it off so he could enjoy the benefits of having 20/5 vision with zooming capabilities, but the enhanced vision gave him terrible headaches and he had to keep his cybernetic body parts hidden. Speaking of which…Glynda had told them to gather in the ballroom, which would mean they'd be sleeping on the floor together. What would he do with his prosthetics? Everyone would see them if he left them beside his bed, and sleeping in them was out of the question. He sighed and decided not to think about it until someone forced him to.

He was about to stop and get his bearings when a sharp elbow bashed against him from the side. _Keep your head down, _he told himself. _Don't make eye contact. _This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to be doing on his first day.

"Are you…" said a female voice. "…okay?"

He gave in and let his reflexes take over, turning around to find a girl in front of him. She was tall and ivory-skinned, with catlike amber eyes and a thick mass of wavy dark hair, and she looked concerned. _Crap, _he thought. Now he'd have to speak to her.

"Yeah," he murmured, keeping his eyes focused on the floor. "I'm fine." He wanted to run away but some hidden reflex in his nervous system kept his feet planted firmly on the ground.

"You were talking to yourself," the girl said.

"Was I?" He scoured every corner of his mind for a decent response. All the films he'd watched as a kid had shown people laughing to kill awkward moments. In a pathetic attempt to sound jokey, he said "Oh, I just do that sometimes. Don't we all?" He'd heard that phrase being used before and thought it worked pretty well.

"I suppose," the girl replied softly. Maybe it hadn't worked so well after all. He was about to run for it when she suddenly said "I'm Blake Belladonna, by the way. What's your name?"

This was what he'd feared. For all he knew she could have had connections with the Capona Dust Company and might even be out on a mission to infiltrate the academy and find him. Once they'd found him, they'd find Leo at the Vale Orphanage, and he couldn't let that happen. He thought long and hard before hesitantly saying "Can I trust you?"

"It depends," she replied. "If you're a Creature of Grimm, then no. If you're a Huntsman-in-training, then yes."

"I…" he said. "…I'm Alexei. Alexei Reznikov."

Blake held out her hand and Alexei shook it half-heartedly, taking care not to use the cybernetic one.

"It's nice to meet you," she said. "I'm going to get something to eat. You can come if you want."

_Probably not a good idea, _Alexei thought. "I'm fine. I have to go and…do something." A half-hearted excuse, but it was the best he could manage.

"Sure," replied Blake. "I understand. I'll see you in the ballroom." She turned on her heels and walked off.

Unsure of what to do, Alexei watched her as she stepped away from him, and on the back of her head he caught a glimpse of a large black bow- a common hair accessory. After taking a closer look, however, he noticed something strange: a tiny sliver of black fur poking out underneath the bow. That could only mean one thing.

He activated the blade hidden inside his right arm, listening to the familiar whirring of gears as it rose out of its metallic prison, and sprinted towards her at top speed, propelled by his powerful cybernetic legs. She had no idea what was coming to her: in an instant his arm was around her neck, the blade poised for the _coup de grace. _

"Don't move!" he hissed, keeping the blade under her chin. She threatened to struggle free, but he tightened his grip on her neck. He didn't care if she suffocated. People like her deserved to die as slowly and painfully as possible.

But she was quicker than he'd expected: she soon managed to rip his hands off her neck and draw her weapon, a thin curved sword in a shade of black so deep Alexei's eyes couldn't quite focus on it. Her face calmer than a sheltered lake, she shifted into a mobile fighting stance, sword poised, weight on her back leg and eyes diamond-sharp: she wasn't going to be caught off guard this time. She'd be a challenge- it was clear from her escape that she was stronger, faster and smarter than the average run-of-the-mill combat student- but Alexei was determined to give her what she deserved. She would pay for what her people had done to him. He would rip her limb from limb until she was reduced to a torso screaming in agony, just as they had done to him and Leo, and he would preferably do it now- he hated putting things off.

Leaping towards him with the agility of a wildcat, she slashed at him with her sword in an obvious attempt to slice him in half, but he dodged it with a sharp backflip, the metal blade slicing past his head with audible speed. He countered it with a sweeping blow to her torso which she managed to block with the edge of her sword. Immediately he flipped backwards over her head and delivered a swift rotational kick to her temple: if his blade was too slow for her he'd have to use hand-to-hand combat. The technique seemed to work, and she slid backwards a bit, but she quickly sprang back into action, delivering a blinding flurry of unidentifiable techniques that Alexei barely managed to evade. He jumped away from her as soon as she appeared to have finished, intending to put some distance between them both so he could collect his thoughts.

_Stay focused, _he thought. _Don't let your emotions consume you. Keep a cool head and don't be reckless. _Her very presence disgusted him, but he forced himself to hold back and treat her as if she was one of the people he'd assassinated when he worked for Alan Capona, as if she had no emotional connection with him whatsoever. He knew his blade wasn't the most efficient weapon in the world, and he mentally kicked himself for trying to start with it when his opponent was clearly so tough. That didn't matter now, though. All he could do now was show his cybernetic arm at its best.

Keeping a close eye on Blake's movements as she watched him like a cat stalking its prey, he folded his blade into its true form: a high-caliber semi-automatic shotgun which, thanks to the unique mechanism created by Dr. Bones, could by fired purely by thought. Without hesitation, he sprinted forward, leapt into the air above her head and fired a barrage of shots as fast as he could, each one meeting its target. Blake was knocked down by the force but managed to spring back up in her usual fashion and was soon swinging her katana as usual. He kept his distance, firing shot after shot without bothering to aim and leaping as high as he could to evade each of her powerful slashes. This wasn't going to work: he needed a bit of extra vision to keep track of her lightning-fast movements. With his free hand he ripped off the eyepatch that covered his artificial eye and blinked a few times as his vision sharpened and Blake slowly transformed from a grey and black blur to a clearly defined Faunus. Now that he could see properly he could make a proper melee blow. He switched his arm to sword form and charged towards her, following her movements as he sprinted forward with his blade poised for the final blow. With all the strength his metallic legs could muster, he leaped forward and slammed his blade onto her body.

Instead of the sound of ripping flesh he'd been hoping for, Alexei heard the loud clank of metal on metal as Blake blocked his attack with her sword, holding the sharp blade above her head. He cursed under his breath and continued to push as hard as he could, hoping she'd give up and let his blade break through.

She was fast, Alexei thought, but was she strong? It was time to find out: their blades pushed against each other in an effort to gain the next hit, their faces centimeters away from each other and their blades grinding like a piece of iron being threaded through a pulping machine. Alexei pushed as hard as he could, glad that he couldn't feel the burn he would have felt with a flesh-and-blood limb, but Blake continued to fight back.

"You…won't…get…away...with this," Alexei said through gritted teeth, an electric wave of anger surging through his body.

"With what?" Blake asked, a note of genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Don't give me that!" Strengthened by his rage, he slashed her sword away and sent her crashing to the ground with a powerful kick. She staggered to her feet a moment later, gasping for breath. "You know and I know what your people did to me.

"No," she said through her labored, panting breaths. "I actually don't. Tell me."

"Find out for yourself," he snapped, retracting his blade. Enough was enough. "You should know."

Blake sighed. "I will. Then I'll see if it was worth you trying to murder me."

Alexei was about to redraw his sword and stab her to death when a strange reflex kept him rooted to the spot. After a moment of contemplation, he felt like kicking himself in the face. How could he have let his emotions get the better of him like that? Blake may have been a vile Faunus, but she certainly wasn't worth blowing his cover and potentially putting Leo in danger. What if someone had seen him fighting her? What if they had connections with Capona? If they recognized him and blew his cover he and Leo would really be screwed. He cursed himself for being so stupid.

"I'll let you off this one." He picked up his jacket from the ground and swung it over his shoulders, the smooth leather encasing his prosthetics like a protective cocoon. Without waiting for Blake's reply, he replaced his eyepatch, turned around and walked out of the hallway in what he thought was the direction of the ballroom. He had a lot of covering up to do.


End file.
